Tara Lazar's PiBoIdMo

Today begins another phase of learning with Tara Lazar's Picture Book Idea Month. I'm getting a late start, but pushing forward to have 30 new ideas by the end of November. I hope vacation doesn't get in the way of writing! Could I possibly have a best seller out of this? Time will tell. Thank you, Tara for this learning experience!

Woe is this blogger

I had a blog about the SCBWI Fall Conference, but now it's gone. I am the first to admit I am technologically challenged. My husband will agree. Thank goodness, we don't have to set the VCR anymore. Some things do get easier in life, but some do not.

This is my blogging challenge. I can't figure out how to put the entire post on without a link to "read more". I know it can be done, because I read other blogs and see it all the time. I just can't figure it out!  I had a page break with a picture of Hannah Harrison's book (super cute!), and I was trying to rework the post and in doing so, deleted it. If anyone can help this pitiful person figure out how to be a professional blogger, please do!

SCBWI Fall Conference

Drawn Together

Last week, I had the great privilege to attend a fundraiser for Moore School libraries. As most people know, Moore, OK was hit with a massive tornado in May. Two elementary schools were destroyed, and seven children were killed at Plaza Towers Elementary.

At this fundraiser, 4 internationally known children's author/illustrator/cartoonists spoke. Jeff Kinney (Diary of a Wimpy Kid), Stephan Pastis (Timmy Failure), Dav Pilkey (Captain Underpants), and Lincoln Peirce (Big Nate) were awesome! It was very interesting to hear about their starts in the business and what they are currently working on. It was equally exciting to see the children in attendance. Yes, children ARE reading and they love these books! The authors showed pictures of the characters and children shouted out their names. Many brought their own books to have autographed. Books and t shirts were also for sale with all proceeds going to the school libraries. What a wonderful thing for these authors and their publishers to do.

Things I personally noticed about all of the authors:
1. They are all males approximately the same age.
2. They are all down to earth and very approachable.
3. They were all dressed casually in jeans, t shirts, ball caps, etc.
4. They were all excellent speakers.
5. They are funny!

All tickets were for general admission, but there was a VIP section. It was front and center of the stage and was specifically for the people from Briarwood Elementary and Plaza Towers Elementary. How cool is that! Those kids will never forget this experience and the year 2013.

I have a confession. I had never read any of these books. On Saturday afternoon, I started reading the books I purchased. I can see why they are so popular with the kids. (Adults can enjoy them, too!)

Are You A Writer?

A couple of months ago, it was posted on my writer's forum that writers have trouble saying the words, "I am a writer." Suffering from an embarrassment about actually saying the words aloud and feeling extremely unworthy, I  realized this is me. My writer's group has such accomplished writers with numerous published books, and I cannot measure up to their accomplishments...yet! (Yes, I have a dream, faith, and determination).

For most of us, being a writer doesn't mean you have a published trilogy under your belt, or you have to be able to support yourself from writing. Being a writer is something that is a part of your make up. It's who you are. Maybe you write on a blog. Maybe you post memories on facebook like a friend I have. (Karrell, this is you. You are definitely a writer!)  Maybe you have one book in print. Maybe you write your history to pass to future generations. Whatever your situation is, be proud when asked, "What do you do?" Today, I am proud to announce, "I'm Sandi Lawson and I am a writer." 

Perfect Day for Writing

Today is the first day of rain in, hmmm...I can't remember. It's another Oklahoma dry, hot summer. The rain has been such a blessing. I don't mean a sprinkle. It's been a slow, steady rain since sometime during the night. The kind of rain that makes you want to lounge around or take a lazy Sunday nap. I've found it to be the perfect weather for writing! No watering the plants. The dogs aren't asking to go outside. My husband is doing homework at the kitchen table. It's totally quiet and peaceful except for the tapping of my keyboard and the noise of the popcorn I am sharing with Alfie. (If I haven't mentioned Alfie before, that's a whole other post. He's my grand dog and totally loves coming to Grandma's house to chase the squirrels and play in the pond.) Now, back to the story I'm working on. I have a deadline for an agent critique. Fingers crossed, all goes well!

Writing Advice from 4th Graders

Rob Sanders Blog: Picture This! has a neat, little post. He had 4th graders at his school write advice to next year's 4th graders about their state wide writing assessment. It's cute and funny and TRUE! You can check it out on the link of the my blog list or do a web search for Rob Sanders Picture This!  I love reading his posts. He is knowledgable, resourceful, and really makes me think about things in ways I hadn't before. His blog was a tip to me from Oklahoma's fabulous picture book author, Tami Sauer. I appreciate any advice I receive from authors! (One of the many reasons I am a member of SCBWI.)

Bandit's Story

From time to time, I post things about my dog, Bandit. He's a pretty special dog. Today, it was proven again. Bandit is now a graduate of Dog Ears and is a certified service dog. He's been in training since October, 2012. Bandit's purpose is to accompany me and be my "ears". He alerts to cars or people that I might not otherwise hear when we out. Other jobs for hearing dogs are to alert to doorbells, oven timers, fire alarms, etc. I am not totally deaf, so many of his chores are not necessary for me. He has discovered the joy of travel and expects to go in the car all the time. The great thing is, HE CAN GO! Being a service dog allows him many privileges. By law, he can go anywhere I go. He goes shopping, to restaurants, doctor appointments, hotels, wherever. Another plus, an establishment cannot charge a fee. If there is a pet deposit required, it is waived for a service dogs. He can even travel on the airlines, sit next to me, not in a kennel, all at no additional charge. Being the dog lover I am, there's nothing greater than being able to take my dog everywhere.

Last week during training, I went to the mall. I was nervous about the escalator. I kept thinking, how am I going to get this dog to go up an escalator? God knew my concerns before I did, and when we got there, the UP escalator was broken. We walked up just like stairs. Now how do we get back down? The DOWN was working. I remembered there was an elevator. Bandit had never been on an elevator, so I knew this could also turn out to be interesting. We go in, the door closes and then I notice, its a glass elevator. Bandit looked out and watched the trip down to the first floor. When the door opened, he acted like he wanted to go again. Silly dog!

Oklahoma's Devastion

It has been quite a week in Oklahoma. The world has watched the devastation via the news outlets. We have watched and communicated via email, text and Facebook. Friends have lost everything and friends of friends have even lost family members. I cannot imagine the hurt that people are experiencing and thank God many times each day that my family, home, and town was spared. Now, the cleanup process has started. Oklahomans are coming out in true form with cash, supplies, time and sweat. On a positive note, God's grace has been shown. The death count had escalated to 91and later it was found to be a terrible error. The death count is in the 20's. Pretty amazing considering the strength of the storm. Kudos to the weathermen in this state. They can't predict a snow to save their necks, but they can tell you what time and what side of the street a tornado is about to hit. Prayers are still needed. Thousands are hurting, but Oklahoma will rise again!

Balancing Writing and Daily Life

I think one of the major challenges for writers is balancing daily activities. Most everything you read will tell you, if you want to be a good writer, you have to write daily. Being a wife, mother, housekeeper, cook, accountant, gardener and everything else I do, often makes writing fall to the bottom of the list. Part of my problem, is the type of personality I have. I took a personality assessment once, and according to that assessment, I don't feel worthy to do fun things (writing, sewing, etc.) until my work is finished. Unfortunately, a woman's work is never done. I sit down to write, and the dryer buzzer goes off and then, oh yeah, I forgot to put those dishes in the dishwasher. The dog wants out and his water bowl is empty.  One cat wants in and one cat wants out. Oh my, look at the time! Time to start dinner. By the end of the day, I am frazzled and my best intentions for getting that story started, were never achieved. Tomorrow it will happen.  Tomorrow comes and its the same vicious cycle! I met one writer that told me she had to leave her house to write. She actually rented an office space downtown and treated her writing like a job. She had no phone in the office and she went to "work" at 8 am and stayed until 5pm. That's great, but I'd never be able to justify spending that money for rent. My personal goal is to set an appointment time each day to mentally zone out of my home and zone into my writing. Maybe I'll go into the closet where the animals won't disturb me and I'll turn off the telephone! Well, its a good thought anyway.